Cason, who has been replaced in the lineup by rookie Marcus Gilchrist, has played poorly at times this season. And at times is all it takes for a cornerback to play poorly.

But, c’mon, who cut off Greg Manusky’s, um, wings?

We were sold on the Chargers new defensive coordinator as an attack-minded general. Man, when the Chargers were up, he was going to put his foot on the opponents’ throat. When they were behind, he wouldn’t back down.

Miami, Kansas City and Denver might have left the field in defeat. But neither did any of those teams depart with cleat marks on their esophagus. And New York’s Mark Sanchez had his best game of the season in leading the Jets from 11 points back in the second half.

The Chargers, quite simply, are not scary.

Their defense has been good enough for long enough stretches in games to be ranked fifth in the NFL in yards allowed. But they're 18th in points allowed, 29th in sacks, 28th in third down defense and tied for 26th in takeaways.

“It’s early,” Manusky said Friday when asked why he hasn’t been the aggressor he was advertised as.

To be fair, two points must be made.

One, the demise of this defense as dominant coincides directly with the deterioration of Shawne Merriman’s body and Jamal Williams’ knees.

Wade Phillips might be among the best defensive coordinators of our time, but he had some mighty fine players with which to crank up the heat -– including Steve Foley for a couple years. Heck, Merriman and Williams were good enough in 2007 to make Ted Cottrell look good.

You think if Manusky had a healthy Merriman this defense wouldn’t be attacking more? Dude had 39½ sacks in three seasons. And Williams was a tectonic shift in a way Antonio Garay has only shown flashes of being.

What Manusky has is seven guys starting on Monday against the Kansas City Chiefs who are in their first seasons as Chargers starters.

“There are a lot of new different guys playing,” he said. “I think they have to keep blending together and keep working.”

Two, have you noticed the Chargers being terribly effective when they do bring pressure?

Here are the numbers: The Chargers have blitzed on 49 pass plays, fewer than all but four teams. When they have blitzed, opposing quarterbacks have a combined 109.9 passer rating with five touchdowns, four sacks and one interception. Only the Miami Dolphins are less effective with the blitz.

That said, former coordinator Ron Rivera found a way in the middle of 2009 to get pressure using his defensive backs, disguises and shifting his linebackers.

So the outside linebackers – aside from Shaun Phillips – aren’t getting it done. So the defensive line isn’t winning one-on-one battles. Get it done somewhere.

Q: What happened when Takeo Spikes went after Sanchez in the Jets’ first series?

A: Spikes hit Sanchez, who sent a floater to Dustin Keller, who didn’t get a good grip on the ball and had it stripped by Donald Butler, who then returned it to the end zone.